Reply to "Do you believe ibn God?" is the wrong question.

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Reply to ""Do you believe ibn God?" is the wrong question."

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[quote=Anonymous]In my humble (at least I try to remember I don't have all the answers) opinion, there are so many different ideas of God, and there are so many personality issues that are independent of your beliefs, that "Are you a believer or an atheist?" is a major oversimplification.

On the issue of what you mean by God -- do you mean the Power that created the universe and keeps it running, or the Universal Good, simply the Universe, or the Personal God who is always with you and watches over you, or the God who is The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or the universal Oneness of Mankind (or of all creatures)?  Do you expect God to help you win your football game, or do you consider that to be taking the Name of The Lord in vain?  I think there is more variation between these forms of belief than there is between belief and atheism.

And whether you are a believer, an atheist, or one who is searching your soul for the answers, I think there are human qualities you can have that span all types of belief, such as the aforementioned humility, hypocrisy, tendency to proselytize, generosity, tendency to resort to name calling rather than reason.

In both the above lists I'm sure you can add many more examples.  And I believe you can find atheists of all personality types and fundamentalists of all types.  Atheists and fundamentalists who are good friends with each other, and Unitarians who hate each other.

I look back on what I have written here, and it seems like a preachy recitation of the obvious, except for the fact that so many discussions appear to assume that we fall into two classes, believers and atheists, that somehow define us.  I am an atheist, but I believe there is an order to the universe that is beyond my understanding, and I believe that we should treat others as we want them to treat us.  I think there are many believers who would say that I have just named the most important aspects of their belief in God.  And I know that there are believers who would (and do) kill each other over differences in doctrine.

So I'll stop bloviating, ask one question, and shut up: Why do we act as though calling someone a believer or an atheist gives any real information?[/quote]

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